No-shows cause Job Network chaos

July 2 2003By Annabel Crabb

The Government may be forced to renegotiate contracts with private Job Network companies because nearly 70 per cent of job seekers are failing to turn up to compulsory interviews to be inducted into the new system.

Yesterday was the first operational day of Job Network Mark 3. All unemployed Australians - about 700,000 - will be compelled to attend Job Network offices to register and be assessed for assistance needs.

After persistent difficulties with the new national computer system in recent weeks, Job Network companies yesterday reported that the IT system had a relatively smooth first day.

But with 67 per cent of unemployed recipients failing to turn up to their scheduled interviews last week, Job Network providers are not earning the fees they banked on during the contracting process with the Government.

Minister for Employment Services Mal Brough said yesterday that unemployed people who persistently failed to participate in the process would be stripped of their benefits and dropped from the system.");document.write("

advertisement

");
}
}
// -->

"Either they co-operate, or they lose their benefits - you can't have it both ways," he said.

But his approach has encountered substantial opposition among providers, many of whom are charity and church groups who do not want to be used to assist in the Government's welfare compliance measures.

"Using punitive language is not the best way to support unemployed people into the system," said Wilma Gallet, chief executive of the Salvation Army's Job Network company Employment Plus.

"We don't use breaching (removing people from welfare) as a tool to get people in - we'd rather talk about the advantages of using these services."

Due to reductions to the unemployment rate and the probability that some unemployed people will be cut off, the pool of job seekers will be substantially smaller than calculated during the contracting process, which will affect the money Job Network providers can make.

David Thompson, chairman of the National Employment Services Association, said some providers, particularly small and medium-sized companies, were at risk because of the lack of business.

Mr Brough, whose departmental officers will meet with the association in Canberra tonight, said: "By all means, we would look at contract variations on the basis that the market has shrunk because unemployment is down."

Australian Council of Social Service president Andrew McCallum said the failure of some unemployed people to turn up to interviews could be the fault of the system, which he said was "cumbersome, impersonal and has significant IT problems".

He said many of the problems were associated with the scheme's "direct referral" approach, in which the unemployed are mailed an electronically generated letter telling them of their appointment, which, he said, was often in difficult language.